


Speed Bumps

by starblossxm



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Black Paladin Keith (Voltron), During Season Three, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Gay Keith (Voltron), Gender or Sex Swap, Genderswap, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance is Severely Confused, Lesbian Acxa, M/M, Mild Language, Minor Acxa/Keith, Minor Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Mutual Pining, One-Sided Allura/Lance (Voltron), One-sided Keith/Acxa (Voltron), Panic Attacks, Pining Lance (Voltron), Pinning Allura, Red Paladin Lance (Voltron), Secret Relationship, post-season two, they/them pronouns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 19:29:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15758205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starblossxm/pseuds/starblossxm
Summary: " The Black Lion is going down- I repeat, the Black Lion is going down! "During the middle of their "night" time, the Castle of Lions is under attack by an unidentified Galra space-craft. After intentionally using his lion to cover the castle from an uncertain blast, Keith is put in a situation he never asked for, nor liked.Although the fact it brings much amusement to the other Paladins, Lance is confused, and Keith is uncomfortable.





	Speed Bumps

**Author's Note:**

> So, hi there! I'll start this off as quick as I can because I'm very excited to share this with everyone!
> 
> First of all, I originally wrote this as a one-shot and was aiming for 6,000 words. I was going to post it here just as that. However, I found myself building onto the idea and before I knew it, I was far past 10k words.  
> I started posting this in small chapters on my wattpad, "naomibxtch"! So, if you see this on wattpad under that username, that is me! You'll notice there are some minor and major changes here and there. I posted whatever I could in my drafts there before revamping the pieces here.
> 
> Second of all, this is written in third person limited. Lance is the one we'll be seeing this fic through. You'll notice the pronouns he uses and how he emphasizes them will change throughout the story. He's confused. He doesn't know what to use or how to feel about the situation.
> 
> And third of all, I'm not sure how long this will end up being! I'm aiming for 3 chapters all with 10k, but, I'm not sure. I'll try to make updates as quick as I can though!
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy. I put a lot of work into what I've gotten done so far xxx  
> \- naomi

It was dark in the Castle of Lions. The Castle was put into sleep mode, the lights turned down low and that constant buzz of its mechanics system silencing. It was eerily silent during that time of their so-called _night time_ . It left a cold feeling within Lance to sit in his room awake during that time. It felt _wrong,_ to say the least. Growing up in Varadero Cuba meant he was used to hearing constant noise. Even when he was accepted into the Galaxy Garrison, there was always some type of noise going on. Patrol officers would walk the halls, televisions would be in use, he would hear distant giggles and laughs from other cadets, and his roommate, Hunk, would usually talk to him until it was far past their time to sleep. If there was anything that Lance said he hated the most, it was the quietness of the ship during this time.

However, at the current moment, his room wasn’t completely silent. Lance was curled up on his bed, the lights brighter than the ones outside of the room. His handheld and an Altean tablet that Pidge converted to English was propped on his legs. Across the room, sitting at his desk, was Keith. He was half asleep staring down at a piece of paper, a pencil in his left hand. He was blinking slowly at it, his breaths deep.

“Are you tired?” Lance mused. A soft smile curled on his face automatically. Keith opened his eyes a little more at Lance’s voice, lifting his head a little more. A soft groan was all he gave in response before he dropped the pencil in his hand. “I’m surprised you’re tired. You usually don’t end up in bed until two. According to my _watch_ , it’s...” Trailing off, Lance clicked his handheld a few times. “One thirty.”

“Time is meaningless in space,” Keith groaned and pulled his chair back with a loud screech. Lance shrunk at the sound. “Sorry,” Keith hissed, stretching his arms over his head. “Time really doesn’t matter to us anymore. I know Pidge set the tablets to Earth’s time but here, that always changes. Whatever planet we land on, time changes. I don’t see the point in...” He broke off with a yawn, turning slowly to face Lance.

“I know, I know, you tell me this about three times a day.” A soft laugh escaped Lance as he shifted on the bed, taking his tablet and handheld and putting both of them on the nightstand beside his bed. He rolled over, laying on the far side of the bed closest to the wall.

Keith stared at his form on the bed for a moment, his jaw clenched, eyes hazed over with tiredness. Lifelessly, he toed off his slippers and left them beside the chair of the desk. He wasn’t wearing his tight-fitting day clothes like he usually would be. Instead, his cropped jacket was discarded in his room, his grey fitting shirt swapped for a white one that fit loosely across his chest and arms, pooling around his waist. His dark jeans were replaced by a pair of baggy dark gray sweatpants. The way he looked, looking comfortable and slack, made Lance genuinely happy.

Walking wobbly across the room, Keith knelt over the bed for a second, hands pushing into the soft mattress. “I think the hit Black took earlier messed my back up.” He jutted his bottom lip out in a pout, eyebrows drawing down into a frown.

“Awe, does someone need a massage?” Lance rose an eyebrow, his expression radiating with love and happiness. Keith’s expression shifted from excruciatingly tired to something soft, eyebrows lifting lightly, lips curling up just slightly. He nodded in response, a small yawn escaping him.

“That would actually be fantastic,” he said quietly, crawling up onto the bed beside Lance. Using his arms to sit up, Lance rolled onto his side, placing his hand softly onto Keith’s shoulder blade. The two looked at one another with a softness that was unexplainable.

Leaning down, Lance brushed Keith’s bangs from his face and left a small kiss to his temple. Humming in response, Keith slumped down on the bed with his eyes fluttering shut, smile growing.

As Lance sat up fully now, brushing Keith’s hair from his face, the ship lunged to the side abruptly. The two in the bed were slammed to the wall, Keith landing in Lance’s lap. His hands automatically went out to grab Lance, pulling him down to avoid hitting his head against the cold metal of the wall. Everything in the room was screeching as it tumbled to the side of the room, books falling to the ground, papers flying, articles of clothing flying from the closet.

All at once the soft blues of the lights went red as alarms began to blare throughout the ship. With a heavy and sharp breath, Keith shot up on the bed, hand still cradling Lance closer to him, fingers caught in his curly wet hair.

“The ship’s under attack,” he snapped, pulling away from Lance. Blinking owlishly, Lance watched as Keith stood up, losing his balance as the ship lunged back into its upright position. Keith floundered around the room quickly, pushing things back to the sides of the walls and picking up several papers before turning around to Lance.

“Are you okay? We have to go, now.”

Nodding in response, Lance pulled the sheets off himself. His heart was racing against his chest, head aching at the loud sound of alarms. His warm feet hit the cold ground, sending shivers up his spine as he looked at the mess around the room. He pressed his lips together harshly, following Keith into the hallway.

 _“Paladins, to your stations, please!”_ Allura’s tired voice announced over the castle’s communication system. _“There are several fleets high on the castle along with an unidentified craft. You guys need to buy us enough time to start the ship up and get ready for a wormhole jump.”_

Turning to each other in a split second, they both gave each other a stern look. A look that became all too familiar to them. A look that would be used often. It was unspoken about, unsettled, and sometimes confusing, but that look was interpreted in a few different ways between the two.

Lance knew that when he sent Keith _that_ look, his eyes stern, eyebrows drawn down, jaw set, and lips pressed together tightly, he wanted Keith to know to be safe. He wanted Keith to know he’d be out there on the battlefield with him for back up.

When Keith sent him that _look_ , eyebrows raised, lips parted slightly, but eyes hard and cold, he knew could just know what was running through his mind. He’d lost so many people in his life already. He wasn’t used to attachment after losing both a mother, father, and brother _twice_. He knew Keith just wanted him to be safe, to come back alive and well on the ship. It made Lance feel something warm and bright in his chest.

“I’ll see you out on the battlefield, team leader,” Lance spoke out sternly, face contorting for a second into something much harder. Abruptly, Keith’s jaw tightened and he nodded before turning and running down the right side of the hallway.

Watching his figure turn down the hall, Lance turned to the left and sprinted as fast as he could. His expression was stern and hard now, determination firing in his eyes.

* * *

Crashing into the cockpit of the Red Lion sent new waves of determination, fierceness, and excitement rolling through Lance’s entire body. As the chair flung forward, red stood up instantaneously, a viciously loud roar of a war cry coming from him before he booted out of the hangar.

Moving into open space, Lance saw the Black Lion already out of its hangar heading around the Castle. Turning out of the hangar, Lance watched carefully as Blue, Green, then Yellow blasted out and followed Black’s lead around the castle. With an affirmative nod, he sped past the three, finding his place to the right of the Black Lion.

“Okay, Paladins,” Shiro’s voice now greeted them. “Coran is starting the ship’s particle barrier. The Lions don’t have enough energy to form Voltron at the moment, all you need to do is hold the fleets off long enough for the wormhole process to start.”

Just yesterday they were on a planet helping with supply drops when the Galra attacked with one of their _“mother ships.”_ The Lions had taken quite a beating, especially Green and Red.

“Affirmative,” Keith responded back in a dark voice. Black jutted to the side away from the castle, the other following after him. Just beside Lance, he watched as the particle barrier rose around the castle.

With another turn around the castle, they were met with several familiar Galra attack ships. They surrounded one _huge_ ship, which, was about the size of the Castle of Lions.

“The middle ship is the leading attack offense. I ran a scan through the Castle’s database just before we left and we have no records of any ship like that,” Allura informed them as they made their way toward them. “We have absolutely no idea what that ship is capable of.”

Black jerked down in front of the lions, crushing one of the small fighter ship in its jaw. Lance kept his eye close on Black as he flew above him.

“We’re going to have to stay clear of that ship,” Keith announced. “For the time being, focus on the Galra attack ships. Pidge, Hunk, Allura, take the first two ships to the right of the Castle. Lance and I will take the left.”

“Roger that!” Pidge shouted in response as Green flew under the Red Lion, making its way to the first ship. Yellow followed suit, shooting off whatever small ships it could.

Watching them make their way to the first ship, Lance jerked at Red’s controls, heading for the first ship on the left. Black was a little slower than him, staying behind him by several yards while shooting off the smaller fighters.

“Hunk, take the ion cannon with Allura! I’ll seal their doors shut with Green’s vines so they can’t send any more fighters!” Pidge’s voice echoed over the comms. It occurred to Lance that she was probably still wide awake when the alarms started.

“Got it, come on Allura- Watch out! Fighters to your left!” Hunk shouted next, his voice more groggy and sluggish. He was definitely asleep just moments ago.

“Lance, cover me, I’m going for their ion cannon,” Keith’s stern, and almost emotionless, voice called over the comms. Instantly, Black was rising in front of him, blasting at the ship in front of them.

Without hesitation, Lance began shooting down the fighter ships escaping from their hangers. One hit with Red’s laser and they were gone. Part of Lance found pride in how strong Red proved to be. Although he loved Blue, as her pilot, he realized her cannons took several fires to take down a small fighter. Though, he could assume that may have been his own fault for not unlocking any of her major upgrades as her pilot.

A tinge of guilt swept through his gut as he turned to watch Black’s paws bare down on the ion cannon, grabbing it, and physically _pulling_ it from the ship. The ship swayed forward and back, the fighters getting caught in their hangers.

“One down!” Lance hollered as the moved onto the next attack ship.

It didn’t take long for them to take down the four advancing attack ships. However, there were still three of them left, along with hundreds of the fighters and their leading ship which had done nothing since they got out of the hangars. It was proving to become more and more difficult to fight as Lance felt exhaustion wipe over him and Red stuttered under his control.

Lance was trying to keep as much of his focus on the fight as he could, still out of the corner of his eye watching how Black was moving. He wasn’t moving with swiftness like he usually would, jutting to the side and being thrown back several times over and over again. His attacks were becoming looser, shots missing, claws scraping against the metal surface of fighter ships. Keith was beyond tired from what Lance saw earlier and there was no way he’d be able to continue on fighting much longer.

Over the comms, Pidge’s anger filled shouts, Hunk’s tired protests, and Allura’s agitation echoed as they shot down as many fighters as they could.

“Coran almost has the wormhole jump ready. You guys are going to have to hold back the ships as we turn around and return instantly if you want to make it into the hangar before the jump. We can’t risk the lions being in the wormhole again after last time!” Shiro’s voice came to save them, sighs of relief escaping almost everyone.

“Lance, Allura, Hunk, Pidge,” Keith addressed as Black slammed into one of the attack ships advancing. A mumbled curse escaped him as he sputtered backward. “Head back to the castle. I can hold them off. Black is the fastest out of the lions and we can make it back to the ship without a problem.”

Protest was automatically on Lance’s tongue. There was _no_ way he’d leave Keith out here alone. There were still too many ships out.  There was no way that Black could stand against them while Keith was tired. It was well known that Red and Black were the fastest lions, he could easily stay back.

However, the loud shriek over the comms silenced him.

“Pidge!” Allura automatically shouted. With wide eyes, Lance turned Red to the right, catching Allura in a nose dive just under one of the attack ships.

“Green’s shield wouldn’t activate fast enough! The ion cannon hit directly- Green wasn’t at full power- Nothing’s working!” Pidge frantically spoke with loudness, hands crashing against the controls.

“Allura, Hunk! Get Green back to the castle!” Keith ordered, snatching another one of the fighter ships in Black’s jaw.

“I can’t! The ion cannon is loading again and I’m halfway through cutting it from the ship!” Hunk spoke in protest.

Instantly, Black turned to Lance. “Lance! Help Allura get Green back to the ship, Hunk and I will take care of what we can before the jump!” Keith boomed as another set of lasers were shot from one of the attack ships.

Hands tight around Red’s controls, Lance stared at Black with a certain heat. His teeth were pressed together hasrhly. Anger, frustration, and nerves prickled off him as he forced Red into a nose dive toward the blurs of blue and green.

“You two, be safe!” Lance shouted over the booms of cannons. Taking Green’s other front leg into Red’s jaw carefully, Allura and Lance zoomed off with Green between them around the Castle’s barrier.

“We’re lowering the barrier now. Hunk, Keith, you guys have five minutes on you. Try to make sure none of the blasts hit the Castle while the wormhole process starts!”

A heavy sigh escaped Lance, shoulders raising, foot tapping against Red’s floor as they rounded the Castle and the fellow lions were pushed out of sight. “We got it!” Keith responded with fierceness, despite how tired and drained he sounded.

Quickly, Allura and Lance managed to get into the hangars, placing Green down as gently as they could. The lion laid limp on the floor, lights off. Pidge hadn’t said another word since her council smashing.

Rushing out of the Red Lion’s mouth, Lance made his way to Green’s open one, Allura not too far behind him. The two walked into the darkness of Green’s cargo hold, looking around quietly before sprinting up toward the cockpit.

Lance reached the ladder first. Pulling himself into the cockpit, he realized the emergency lights were flashing. The sound of air was flushing around him, coldness hitting him instantly as he turned. Turning to the pilot chair, he noticed the limp armored arm hanging over the side of the chair and his heart dropped.

“Pidge!” A heated shout escaped him as he booked it to her side, dropping beside the pilot chair. Pidge’s armor was still fully intact, the helmet fully closed instead. Grabbing her arm as softly as he could, she stirred, eyes flinching and eyebrows pinching. A pained groan escaped her as her hands flexed.

“Oh, Pidge!” Allura’s voice trailed not long after. She made her way around the other side of the pilot chair. Lance and Allura stood there for a few seconds, both holding Pidge’s arms carefully as she came too.

“I’m so... tired,” Pidge said through a gurgle of her own spit, which, Lance would have found quite disgusting if he wasn’t just relieved she was okay.

With a happy sigh, Lance stood up fully. “I got her, Allura,” he reassured her as he took both Pidge’s arms in his. He stood like that for a moment before bending down and picking her up like a _child_.

She wrapped her legs around his middle, arms resting over his shoulders, her head hitting against his chest. The vague familiarity of holding his little sisters and nieces like this punched Lance in the chest, causing him to clench his jaw.

Quietly, Allura and Lance lead themselves out of the Green Lion, through the hangars, and made their way through the hallways to the bridge. Their steps were slow, bodies sluggish. A yawn even escaped Allura as the turned a corner.

They were turning another corner when it happened. The ship lurched to the side, causing the two to stumble in their steps. Pidge automatically perked up at this, clutching onto Lance a bit tighter than before.

Just as the castle righted itself, it lurched to its side _again_. With wide eyes, Lance began sprinting down the hallway. Static filled his comms as he approached the hall leading to the bridge. One hand was holding onto the wall to keep his balance, the other around the groggy and out of sorts Pidge hanging onto him.

When he made it to the bridge, Coran was turning the castle, head turned awkwardly to the side watching _something_. Shiro was shouting something at Hunk. Carefully, Lance helped Pidge into her chair before pulling off his helmet and rushing over to Shiro.

“Shiro, what’s happening? The comms went into static?” Lance quickly questioned as he stood up to look out at what was happening. Smoke. Smoke _everywhere_ . Now, his heart was in his freaking _throat_.

Shiro lifted a finger up at Lance. “Keith? Keith, can you come in?” Shiro shouted into the Castle’s Communication. He hit a few buttons before leaning over the control system.

“Hunk, can you see the Black lion at all?”

Instantly, Lance was rushing around the castle’s control system, rushing over to the glass looking over the smoky fight.

Static gargled over the comms. “Shiro- Shiro, I can’t see _anything!_ The attack ships are all going down- Yellow’s system is going haywire-” Hunk was panting, his voice higher than usual. Something happened. Something bad happened, and he could hear it in Hunk’s voice.

“Hunk, I need you to calm down. We’re not going to enter the wormhole without you or _Keith_. Wait for the smoke to disperse, we need to find the Black Lion as quick as we can, we have no idea what just hit them.”

 _Hit them_ , Lance echoed in his head. The leading ship must’ve fired at them. It must’ve fired at _Keith_ . The blue helmet in his hands dropped to the floor beside him, rolling against his feet. Keith’s comms are down. They can’t get a signal on the Black Lion. Everything’s smoking, like a _fire_.

Lance’s hands began to shake against the glass, his legs weakening under him. His head was spinning and he could taste metal. His jaw was tight and he could feel his eyes welling up with tears.

Through is peripheral vision he watched as Allura stood beside him, hands against the glass like him. “Hunk’s going to be fine,” she said in an attempt to soothe him. It was well-known Lance and Hunk were best friends, Hunk and Lance took shots for each other, they worried sick for each other, but right now, he knew Hunk was okay.

He didn’t know if _Keith_ was.

To the team, they didn’t know what went on behind the scenes. They didn’t know about the quiet shared glances between the two, the shared stories, the quiet moments they took together. They didn’t know they shared beds, shared cries and smiles. They didn’t know they were a _thing_. It was assumed the two just learned to accept and get over the “rivalry” spoken about. That they’d grown up and been just friends.

They weren’t just friends.

Lance wanted to _scream_.

Static echoed from the comm system behind them. “The smoke is clearing out a bit... I still can’t see Keith... My radar isn’t picking up Black’s signal either!” Hunk shouted. They could hear how he was slamming the controls, similar to how Pidge had.

It was silent for a while after that. The fire from the ships seized. The wormhole was open. The particle barrier was down. The castle was _silent_. The eerie type of silent Lance would recall during the middle of the night without Keith by his side.

_Without Keith..._

A choked sob escaped Lance, knees finally giving out as he hit the castle floor. All eyes were on him instantly- the being who broke the silence. He curled in on himself, his vision spotting. He was shaking badly. His chest felt heavy, and he couldn’t breathe.

He couldn’t imagine a world without Keith. He couldn’t imagine Keith just _not_ being there. He couldn’t even remember a time when Keith wasn’t there. Memories surged back from the Garrison. Keith was there, standing in the hallways by himself. He was there in the simulations, fighting with James over who was point. He was there in the canteen, sitting at the teacher’s table with Adam and Shiro talking animatedly.

Then he wasn’t there for awhile. However, he haunted the hallways of the Garrison. His ghost hung over everyone’s head. His name was mentioned in many conversations. He held every record there was to achieve in the cadets ranking. His face was in the yearbook, tired and sad.

Then, he was there again. He was setting off explosions, breaking into a high ranked facility. He was breaking a commanding officer out of custody. He was driving a hoverbike off the side of a fifty foot _cliff._

He was everywhere after that. He was in the hallways of Lance’s new “ _home for now_ ”. He was there in the morning, greeting him in the kitchen. He was there at night, bidding goodnight as they made their separate ways to their room. He was just there, smiling, scowling, being. It made Lance itch, itch that he couldn’t escape him ever.

But now, he never wanted to.

And maybe now, Keith really was escaping him.

“Hunk, can you get a visual on the Black Lion now?” Shiro’s voice was raising in pitch slightly. The tension in the room was rising immensely, leaving Lance to only cave in on himself more.

A hand touched Lance’s shoulder tenderly and soft, causing him to flinch from the touch. He knew it was Allura, seeing as she was now crouched beside him. “They’re going to be okay, Lance.” She smiled warmingly at him. The gesture did nothing to settle his nerves so instead, he dropped his head, eyes fluttering shut and tears finally spilling.

“I can’t- still... too mu-... Last thing-.... Screaming- Light.... Purple?” The comm system was going in and out, Hunk’s voice distorting slightly.

“Hunk, your comms are going out, can you repeat that?”

Another gargle of static with mixed words was all he was given in response. Then, there was nothing. It was deathly quiet once again, the only thing that could be heard was Lance’s shaky breaths and sniffles.

The comms turned on again, static starting the transmission.

“-ck... Hello? Can anyone hear me?” It was an unfamiliar voice talking now. Everyone turned to Shiro. He was staring down at the control system with perplexion.

“The system isn’t picking up the fact someone’s talking through the comms... I can’t get a sign on who it is,” he answered their questioning glares as he amplified the sound. “We can hear you, who is this?”

The other exhaled sharply. “I can’t hear anything,” the feminine voice responded. “I think my eardrums were ruptured...” They paused, panting. “Nothing’s responding... All the lights are off- I can’t see anything!”

Hunk’s voice broke into the transmission. “Who is that?” He shouted.

“I have no idea, no signal,” Shiro responded dryly. “I think it may be one of the Galran soldiers. They may be broadcasting to the wrong ship, but I can’t tell and I have no way to stop it without their signal!”

“The smoke is clearing- I see him! I see the Black Lion!” Hunk shouted happily. The female on the comm system hissed like they were in pain.

“The Black Lion is going down- I repeat, the Black Lion is going down!” They shouted, panting. Static gurgled over their voice and they went silent.

“The Black Lion is literally going into a nosedive!” Hunk shouted. “They must be one of the Galra fighters in the fighter ships near us- I’ll grab them!”

Everything went quiet again. “Hunk, bring the both of you to the hangars immediately. We’re going to wormhole as soon as you dock and access the damage that hit did to Keith.”

Without a second thought, Lance was tearing away from Allura’s touch. She jumped back slightly, looking hurt as she watched Lance scramble to pick his helmet up. Practically slamming the helmet down to click with his armor, he was standing up, shaking and unsteady, and booking it out of the room.

He heard footsteps following in his wake, but he didn’t say anything. He was sprinting, lungs burning, head spinning with exhaustion. Tears were pulling down his cheeks, landing on his collarbones making his undersuit wet. He didn’t care.

All he cared was if Keith was still alive.

When they made it to the hangar, Allura was the one behind him. They waited to the side as the Yellow lion appeared, pushing the Black lion into the hangar with it’s upper body. They waited a second longer for Yellow to land before booking it to the heap of the Black lion beside the Red one.

It was a similar situation with the Green lion, it’s light were off, it was laying limp, and it looked down right dead, which, is could be. Pushing his way through the mouth of the lion, Lance pushed himself in, scrambling to his feet. He did all but threw himself onto the ladder, flying up it practically.

He was close to hysterics by the time he turned to the pilot’s chair. The council was sparking with purple, not even the emergency lights were on, leaving it pitch black. Running to the pilot’s chair, he swerved around it, dropping in front of the figure sitting limply on the chair.

He was hesitant to touch him, scared to hurt him, scared to find him not responding. Around him flickered with purple zaps, lighting up the figure in front of him slightly. He could barely see anything through the darkness, just barely able to make out the red paladin armor laying limp in the chair, head back.

“Everything was drained from the lion...” Allura’s voice traveled from below them, but he chose to ignore her.

“Keith... Keith, can you hear me?” Hesitantly, he reached out, hand fanning across an unmoving hand. It didn’t even twitch under his touch. Lance’s breath hitched, hand landing on the forearm armor piece.

“Keith-”

A high pitched scream cut him off. Purple sparked _everywhere_ in front of Lance, causing him to jerk back. The figure in front of him was buzzing with purple electrical zaps. They were screaming- screaming bloody murder- but it didn’t sound like _Keith_ at all. They lifted from the seat, back arching, legs coming to kick at Lance’s sides as he leaned back beside the controls horrifically.

The Red helmet tumbled to the floor as the figure bent forward, still screaming. The scream was deafening, echoing off the walls of the Black Lion’s head. It was painful, filled with fear and pure _pain_. It left Lance cowering, shaking as he tried to lean forward to grab them.

It wasn’t until the zapping stopped that the person hung over the seat and stopped kicking, panting heavily. However, with the little light shining in the lion from the hangar room, he could see the person had _very_ long hair.

“Who the hell are you and what did you do with Keith?” Lance automatically snapped, backing into a defensive kneeling position and pulling his bayard out. It quickly transformed into his original sniper.

“Lance! Lance, what was that?” Allura screamed, footsteps banging closer.

Instead of responding, Lance pulled his snipper up, hitting the figure with the side of his knee. “I said, who are you?” His voice was pointed, dark and deep. It sounded downright terrifying and nothing like Lance would normally sound, but, he was tired, scared, confused, and still crying.

The figure groaned slightly, twitching in the seat. “What... the hell... are you talking about...” The woman got out between pants.

Behind the chair, a bright light flashed. “I found a flashlight!” Allura shouted, coming closer with the light. Instantly, the features of whoever was sitting in front of him were more defined.

They were hunched forward, long dark and wavy hair covering their face. They were wearing the Red Paladin armor, which, was _several_ sizes too big for their figure. They had small dainty hands, the gloves pooling around them.

“Who in the Quiznack-” Allura’s voice was drowned out by another fear raising scream.

Instantly, the figure shot up. Their eyes were glowing yellow, the eye a familiar purple. They threw their head back, hair pooling around the chair as they arched back, more purple zaps emitting from their body.

“It b-burns!” They screamed, eyes clamping shut, body contorting. Dropping his snipper, Lance felt his heart lunge. Holstering his bayard, he stood up in front of the figure. Looking around him, he realized both the chair and control system was zapping too. Without a second thought, he bent down, grabbed the figure from the chair, and pulled them off it as fast as he could.

The screaming stopped immediately as the figure collided with Lance, the zapping stopping again. They sighed in relief, melting against Lance. Rigid, Lance looked over at Allura with a stern and emotionless look.

He was confused. Who was this? How did they get into the Black Lion? _Why_ were they wearing Keith’s armor?

Looking down slightly, he noticed the armor was basically slipping off their body. They were much smaller than Keith was, standing several inches shorter than Lance. Their body was shaking against Lance, their long black hair everywhere.

He gave them a second to compose themselves before clearing his throat, pushing them off him. Allura shifted to stand behind Lance, closer to the controls, and shined the light at the woman.

Taking the hint, the woman pulled away slightly, picking their head up. Their long hair fell into place, a few stay pieces sticking to the sweat on their forehead and cheeks. When they opened their eyes again, they were completely human, and a very familiar shade of a mix between purple and grey that Lance knew all too well.

“What the fuck,” the woman said in a second, letting go of Lance. “Lance?” Their voice was broken, dry, groggy, and filled with complete fear.

Staring down at the _woman_ in his arms, Lance took in a few things. The woman was wearing the Red Paladin armor and undersuit. Their hair was long, curled in some places and simply wavy in others. They had the _complete same_ eyes as _Keith_.

Searching their face more with confusion, he couldn’t see any scars. Keith had scars. Keith had scars that ran across his forehead, his left cheek, and on his lower lip. But this woman had perfectly clear and untampered with skin.

“Who are you?” Allura barked from behind Lance, still flashing the light right at her. She even went as far as pulling her bayard out, pointing it at her with it still deactivated.

With confusion written across his face, Lance’s grip on the woman’s sides tightened.

_“Keith?”_

* * *

 Lance sat quietly in the medic bay. His hands were folded over his mouth, elbows resting on his knees as he watched the scene in front of him carefully.

Laying down on the first stretcher was Pidge, her armor discarded. She was curled on her side in her undersuit, an ice pack on her head and elbow. She was fast asleep, Hunk standing beside her and watching over her figure to the third stretcher. Shiro was sitting on the opposite side of the room beside Hunk, watching carefully.

It was quiet in the room as Coran stood in front of the short _girl_ they found in the Black Lion. Allura was standing behind him, watching the scanners carefully. The girl was sitting quietly on the stretcher, blinking owlishly. Coran had helped them remove the large armor plates from their sore body, leaving her in a very loose fitting under suit. The under suit pooled around her legs and arms, stretching tightly over her chest and hips in contrast.

Her black hair was matted, pulled behind her ears awkwardly. Dried tears stained her cheeks, sweat dripping from her forehead. She seemed just as confused as anyone else in the room as she stared at the projection scanners.

“The scanners aren’t picking up any damage or ailments,” Allura pointed out, tracing a few Altean words on the projection with her finger. “However, it is picking up a lot of brain activity, unusual for a human. Their endorphin is high despite showing no broken bones or internal bleeding... Their growth hormones are skyrocketing... Uh, how old are you-”

“Eighteen,” the girl snapped in response. She folded her arms awkwardly over her chest, looking down uncomfortably for a moment before turning to stare at the wall.

Lance tore his eyes away from the girl in favor of watching Allura tap on Coran’s arm. “Here, it says they have a balance of testosterone and progesterone. Seeing as they’re completely female, there shouldn’t be such a high level of testosterone.”

Pushing Allura off to the side slowly, Coran pulled up another screen. He began scrolling up, determination pressed across his face.

With shaky breaths, Lance dared to look back over to the girl. She was staring at him, eyebrows drawn up just lightly, lips parted, eyes glazed over. It was such a familiar expression. He wanted to believe that _this_ was Keith, but he was confused, baffled by how this happened.

Staring for a second longer, the girl snapped away. Her jaw tightened, looking like she was grinding her teeth. From past experiences, Lance knew Keith grinded his teeth to the point of migraines when he was stressed or about to cry.

Biting on his lower lip slightly he turned over to meet eyes with Hunk, who was already looking his way with a suggestive look. He tilted his head toward the girl, raising an eyebrow. It was a gesture he would do back at the Garrison when he caught Lance checking people out. Though, that wasn’t him _now_. Despite the downlow relationship he was in, he didn’t check out girls anymore, his eyes set on one person and one person only.

Right now, _Keith_ was the only thing running through his mind.

Jaw clamping, Lance threw him a stern look and shook his head slightly. The hint was taken right away, he raised his hands in surrender, sympathy washing over his face.

“From what I’ve concluded from the scans, the blast that hit Black was a disrupter ray. It shut down Black manually, stopping your link with it. However, it being such a powerful disrupter ray, and you being a mere human with sensitive insides, took the affect as well. It was an immediate change which meant that was a very powerful ray,” Coran started. The girl nodded, hyper focusing her attention on him.

“Basically, the disruptor ray messed with your hormones and the effects were.. well, instant. From what these readings are saying, your body should revert back to normal once the rays hormone disruptors wear off on you. You’ll experience rapid growth, bone structural change, rapid weight loss, and uh, _everything_ will go back to normal in a very awkward and painful process. It shouldn’t hurt as much as it did when you were first turned, which is the good part!” Coran animatedly said, turning to the girl. She looked unamused.

“How long will I be stuck like this then?” She deadpanned, motioning to her entire body.

“About... fourteen to twenty-one movements?” Coran assumed. “So, in human terms, two to three weeks!”

Groaning, the girl leaned back, flopping down on the bed with her arms above her head.

“The good news for you is, all the scars you’ve once had and any birthmarks will probably have been eliminated for good!”

_“Yippee.”_

Turning over to Shiro, then to Lance, Coran motioned for the two to come closer. Standing up from his chair, Lance walked over tiredly, avoiding eye contact with the girl. His armor felt heavier on him as he stepped closer to the monitor Coran began to motion to.

“Since you two seem the most skeptical of this, allow me to show you these two scans. The first scan is of Keith’s DNA the last time he’d been put in a pod, which, was several weeks ago. The second scan was of _their_ DNA with the spit sample we took. I can assure you, one hundred percent, this _is_ Keith!”

Staring at the meaningless numbers and letters, watching as each matched up, Lance felt relief wash over him slightly. He felt the tension in his shoulders release immensely. Now he knew at least Keith wasn’t taken or killed, just, simply a little different physical wise. He’d be back to normal soon, which, was great.

“This is reassuring,” Shiro smiled. “We’re sorry we didn’t believe you, Keith.”

A muffled _“Whatever.”_ was all he got in response.

Speechless, Lance just nodded to Coran. “I’m going to hit the showers and head to bed... goodnight guys...” He mumbled, turning for the medic bay’s doors as quickly as possibly.

“Same guys,” Hunk echoed. “I guess me too,” Shiro added. A trail of footsteps followed after Lance.

“Wait, Coran, am I allowed to go take a shower?” _Keith_ said as they made it to the doorframe.

“I would suggest you wait until they’re done... While you wait, Allura can give you some different clothes! I’ll have to ask you to come back here when you wake up so we can do another test though.”

Pausing slightly, Lance turned over his shoulder. _Keith_ was staring at him, eyes downcast, hair covering _his_ face. Biting down on his cheeks, Lance turned and followed after Hunk and Shiro without another word.

* * *

When Lance had taken his quick shower and slipped into a pair of comfortable shorts and a tank top, he was left in his room to clean. He pushed his night table back into place and readjusted his desk and chair. Kneeling down on the floor, he gathered the books and some of the nicknacks he gathered from planets that fell and put them back on his desk.

Kneeling down one last time, he grabbed the pencils, markers, and paints that belonged to Keith that had fallen. He carefully put them in their packages and placed them on the chair. Taking ease with picking up the half-opened sketchbooks, he shut them and un-crinkled the pages, hands shaking and stomach a bit upset.

As he rummaged through the papers on the floor, he found the drawing Keith was drawing earlier. Leaning over, he grabbed it. It was a simple pencil sketch, something Keith only did when he was tired and winding down. It was a drawing of what he presumed was himself with Lance, sitting on the roof of a house, watching over the dunes as the sun set behind them.

An unwarned smile crept on his face as he flattened the paper down, un-creasing its corners. Just as he went to stand, there were a few weak knocks at his door. Without hesitation, the doors slid open.

“Look at this shit,” _Keith_ instantly stormed into the room, waving an article of clothing in the air. _He_ was in his dark red tight fitting boxers, which, now only showed off larger _thighs_ . He was wearing his white night shirt from earlier, however, it was even tighter around _his_ chest, the short sleeves ending at _his_ elbow. It raised a little over _his_ belly button, almost like a crop top. Now with so much skin showing, Lance could see the dark blue and black bruises scattered across their skin. Spots of purple tainted their knees, their elbows, their wrists, ankles, neck, and even fingers.

Before Lance could even react, something was being thrown at is face. The drawing still in his left hand, he grabbed whatever was thrown at him with his right. He was startled when it squished under his grip. “C thirty-four!” _Keith_ shouted at him. “Allura was like- _Oh, I know you’re a guy and all but now you have boobs for now! It would be so awkward for you without one of these, trust me!_ And then proceed to throw me on her bed and make me try on seven of these fucking things!”

Looking down at his hand, Lance stared unaffectedly at the red lace-lined bra in his hand. After doing laundry for a family of ten, six of them being female, he’d seen a lot of bras in his life. But this, this made him shutter at finally realizing what exactly he was holding. He dropped it automatically, letting it fall beside his foot.

“Dude, come on,” _Keith_ deadpanned, staring up at him from where _he_ sat on the edge of Lance’s bed. “I still need that, don’t get it all gross. Pick it up.”

Robotically, not taking his eyes from the _girl_ sitting on his bed, he placed the drawing in his hand on the desk, picked up the bra, and put it on the table as well.

“Thank you,” _he_ sighed in response, moving his arms to his knees. “Uh...” _Keith_ paused, moving the wet and tangled hair from _his_ face. Lance watched with a certain fascination as several strands stuck to _his_ cheeks and neck.. “I was wondering if it was okay if I still stayed in here with you- or if that was too awkward-”

Instantly, Lance interrupted. “Can I do your hair?”

* * *

Lance watched quietly from his spot on the floor as Keith stood up, pulling down his shirt as he walked into the bathroom. Lance had brushed through his hair, which, landed at _his_ lower back now, and put it up into two braids.

He watched with some satisfaction as Keith starred in the mirror, hands tracing over the wet braids that landed over his chest.

Now looking at _him_ in a better light, not much really changed. Despite the scarless skin, thicker thighs, and skinnier legs, he still had upper arm muscles, and a sharp defined jawline. His eyes were still the same with thick eyelashes, lips still the same, and freckles still visible around his elbows and collar bones.

“I look... a lot different,” _he_ pointed out, dropping the braids in his hands and looking down for a moment. _He_ looked back up in the mirror, hands trailing down his sides to his thighs. Lance watches hesitantly as _he_ grabbed at them, looking very disappointed.

“I hate this,” he admitted, turning to Lance with a defeated expression.

Sighing, Lance stood up from his place on the floor, dusting off his shorts. “Coran said your body will go back to normal in a few weeks... You just look a little.... curvier, softer if you will,” he offhandedly said, walking into the bathroom to drop off the brush he’d used.

Standing behind Keith, they both looked in the mirror at the same time expressionless.

“I shrunk like, seven inches.”

“Short stuff,” Lance giggled tiredly, tapping at _his_ wet head. At the action, Keith ducked down away from him, jutting his bottom lip out slightly.

Leaning closer without touching, Lance looked in the mirror again. His eyes trailed Keith’s body. No, he wasn’t checking him out. To him, that felt slightly wrong and unjust. He was looking at how the white shirt Keith was wearing fit him.

“Keith, do you want to borrow one of my looser night shirts? That looks super uncomfortable.” He frowned, backing up from Keith slightly.

Lifting their head, Keith frowned. “Actually, that’d be amazing. This feels super restricting.”

The “ _I wonder why_ ” left unspoken from by Lance as he walked out of the bathroom toward his wardrobe. Rummaging through a few of his shirts, he settled on one of the light grey shirts he had that even fit a little loosely on himself.

“Hey,” Lance called out to get Keith’s attention. Snapping his head away from the mirror, Keith raised a hand out. Throwing the shirt and watching Keith catch it flawlessly, he smiled to himself.

“Thanks,” Keith shouted in response as he stuck the shirt between his knees, holding it place as he grabbed the shirt he was wearing from the bottom and began to pull it up. The most Lance saw was his stomach before he closed his eyes and ran over to his bed.

“Keith! Jesus, man!” He shouted as he rolled over on his bed. A soft giggle echoed from the bathroom, something unfamiliar and foreign. It didn’t leave butterflies soaring through Lance’s stomach.

“Sorry, forgot.” Was the apology he got before the white shirt came flying out of the room, hitting the wardrobe before falling in front of the door. Stepping out of the room, Keith stretched with his arms over his head.

“Uh... I guess I’ll head to my room?” He lowered his arms, looking a little defeated. Lance shook his head, moving closer to the wall and pulling up the sheets.

“It’s fine,” he reassured, slipping under the covers.

Shoulders deflating, Keith turned around and slammed his now much smaller, slimmer hand onto the lock pad. The light over the door changed from blue to red, switching into sleep mode and locking the door. The lights in the room dimmed too.

Lance watched carefully as Keith made his way over to the bed, clambering under the sheets, leaving a good inch between them.

“Okay, so, question,” Lance started once Keith had pulled the sheets over his stomach. He hummed in response, rolling to his side to make eye contact with him. “So, do I refer to you as a girl- or a guy right now? Because my mind is all over the place right now.”

“I’m a dude, Lance,” he deadpanned, the feminine voice going monotone. Something that screamed _Keith_ to Lance like a slap to the face. “Just call me a guy, dude, whatever. I just look a little different.”

“I think you’re shorter than Pidge now- or, just a few inches taller,” Lance quickly pointed out. That earned a scowled expression.

“Goodnight,” Keith yawned, head hitting the pillow now.

Lance laid rigid for a second, watching the way Keith’s eyelashes fluttered slightly. How his shoulders raised and deflated with heavy quiet breaths. He looked at how the braids laid in front of him, circling his arms. It was strange to refer to such a feminine looking person as Keith, because that wasn’t what Keith was. Keith was strong, rigid with muscles. He had sharp edges to him, a defined jawline and cheekbones, sculpted arms and torso. His chest was normally buff, his waist lean.

But now, he seemed softer. His cheeks were fuller, his body having more of a curvy look to it.

Lance’s mindset was everywhere, and he didn’t know how to feel about the situation.

* * *

The next morning, Lance woke up finding himself unnaturally warm. His body felt heavy, arms tingling. In his left ear he could hear soft breaths, warm air hitting against his neck and causing him to shiver. Shifting slightly, he found there was a weight sprawled across his entire body. Arms moving, he felt soft warm skin under them.

A heavy and shallow breath escaped him as he snapped his eyes open, greeted by the dark ceiling of the room. Looking down, he noticed the dark hair and spool of braids across his chest. Their face was nuzzled in his neck, their arms holding onto his shoulders.

Further noticing, he realized their legs were tangled together, his hands holding onto their plush hips. Pulling away like he’d been burned, he took a deep breath in, noticing how flush together their bodies were.

Normally, Keith was not a cuddler. Not even close. Despite the fact they started dating under the team’s noses about four months ago, and started sharing beds at random one month ago, Keith was rather hesitant with his show of affection. Usually, Keith would be awake first, turned on his side on Lance’s tablet. Their feet would be touching, and that was it. On the rare occasions Lance woke up first, he’d sometimes find an arm wrapped around his lower stomach, fingers brushing against his own hand, or a leg thrown over his own.

This was completely different, something Lance had never been exposed to. He could tell his breathing was getting quicker, his heart slamming against his chest.

Casually placing his hands on the warm and somewhat soft upper arms of the body on top of him, he shook them slightly. “Keith, Keith... Wake up....” he whispered a little louder than he would usually. He shook them again until a groan was all he got.

A few seconds later, they were raising their head up, bright purple eyes staring up at Lance owlishly. Drool was hanging from their mouth, eyebrows drawn up.

“Good morning,” they said sleepily, arching their back to stretch, flushing their stomachs together even more.

Now even more startled, Lance sent a half-assed smile before sitting up, causing them to roll over closer to the wall. Their legs remained entangled.

“I’m just- uh... going to go get ready for breakfast.” Lance threw the sheets off him, pulling his legs free from Keith’s. Warm feet hitting the cold floor of his room, he made it over to his wardrobe, pulling his short-sleeved blue shirt out and a pair of tight fit jeans. Pulling out an extra blue shirt, he threw it over the side of the chair.

“Keith, I’m leaving a shirt out for you,” Lance informed as he began to stip to his underwear carelessly. The other groaned, clearly stretching.

“Can you wait for me?” Keith mumbled. Finally fully dressed, Lance turned around to see Keith sitting up in bed, wiping his eyes. The braids were still in, stray hairs sticking out here and there.

“Yeah sure- Let me go grab you a pair of shorts from your room first.” Unlocking the room door, Lance stuck his head out of the room. The hall was empty, thankfully. Hurrying out of the room, he rushed down the hall past several empty rooms before making his way to Keith’s usual room. Putting his hand on the scanner, he watches as blue encompassed his hand, the doors sliding open.

The room was dark and cold. Shivering, Lance made his way over to the unattended wardrobe, opening the doors. The only thing hanging up was Keith’s cropped jacket, which if he were to wear now, would probably fit him like a normal jacket with longer sleeves. With a dry expression, he bent down, grabbing the first pair of grey shorts, socks, and briefs he could find.

He was careful walking out of the room too, making sure the coast was clear before scampering off to his room.

Thinking back on it, Lance remembered clearly what it was like for him four months ago when he first sneakily ran from his room to Keith’s. It was the middle of the night and they had just gotten back from a near-death mission that left both the Black Lion and Red Lion out of commission for several movements. When he went to knock on Keith’s door, he was pulled into a hug by a shaking Keith.

 _“I’m sorry,”_ he remembered Keith breathing into his neck, hands shaky around his middle. _“I saw Red getting sucked into the tractor beam and I lost it. You weren’t responding and I was so worried- I...”_

After that, he stopped talking. They just stood in Keith’s room in a heat filled embrace, heavy breaths escaping the both of them.

 _“I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you... You’ve been there for me and I- I can’t-”_ He remembered how he shushed Keith after that, pulling away from. He grasped at Keith’s shoulders tightly, eyes filled with determination.

_“War is scary, Keith. We all have losses at stake- and I just, I came here to tell you, after today, after all that happened, I want you to know I care for you more than a friend. You make me happy- You make me feel safe. You’re the only person here who hasn’t pushed me away, laughed at my attempts, or pushed away my advice. You’re so smart- and strong- after all, you’ve been through you’re still standing here, leading The Defender of the Universe... And- I-”_

_“Lance?”_ He remembered how Keith had cut him off, eyes soft. _“I really like you.”_

After that, life was a lot different for Lance. They decided a week after that incident that they weren’t just friends while sitting on the hillside of a foreign planet.

 _“Do you think we should tell the rest of the team?”_ He remembered himself asking, fingers twitching against the warm palm beside his.

_“You wouldn’t think that the others would find it unprofessional? Or think it’s fake- Or try to separate us? Or just make it really awkward-”_

_“Okay, yeah, nevermind buddy, calm down.”_

He understands fully where Keith was coming from. There was the chance that the team may find it unprofessional during a war, which, it probably was, but after that incident, Lance swore to himself he was going to live life to the fullest. He was only young once, and each day he was putting his life in danger. Keith was the first person he ever felt emotionally attached to that wasn’t family. Keith made him want to be a better person, he pushed him to do better, he made him beyond happy and made him feel safe. Keith deserved all the love in the world after what he’d been through, and Lance swore that he wasn’t going to let there be a day that went by that Lance didn’t remind Keith how much he cared for him.

Part of him enjoyed keeping it a secret. It was his and Keith’s thing alone. Their safe spot. It felt like, to him, if they told the others, that little bubble of normalcy would be broken.

Snapping out of his own headspace, smile warm and eyes soft, he returned back to his room.

“Okay, Keith, so-”

“Lance, how do you work these things?”

Stopping in his tracks, he turned to look in the bathroom. The door was open and Keith was standing in front of the mirror, still wearing his red boxers. Now, he was wearing the blue shirt Lance laid out earlier, shirt tucked up in the back as his hands toying with something on his back.

“What are you talking about?” Walking into the bathroom, Lance put the clothes on the counter, watching Keith with a perplexed expression.

“Allura helped me the last time, she said there are hooks on the back- This shit is too hard, I don’t know how girls do this all the time,” Keith huffed with anger, hands dropping. His shirt was kept hiked up under his armpits, the straps of the red bra now showing.

With his face heating and cheeks flushing, Lance walked behind Keith. “Here, I got it...” Carefully with hesitant hands, he grabbed the straps of the bras, hooked the hooks, and dropped it quickly, letting it snap on Keith’s back loudly.

“What the fuck!” Keith hissed, dropping his shirt, back arching as he reached back to rub his burning back.

* * *

When Lance made it to the kitchen, he found Hunk leaning against the counter sipping on a cup of Altean “coffee.” He greeted Lance with a small wave, pulling the warm mug from his mouth and putting it back on the counter.

“You woke up extra late today,” Hunk remarked. He turned, pulled one of the plates off the counters and handed it to Lance. “Bacon bits and eggs!”

Smiling, Lance took the plate. “Thanks, buddy. And yeah, I slept in seeing as we were up so late last night.”

Hunk nodded, pushing off the counter and crossing his arms. “Understandable. Have you seen Coran, Pidge, or Keith yet? Allura, and Shiro are already sitting down. They want to talk about the whole... situation.”

“I haven’t seen any of them,” Lance lied, maneuvering around Hunk to grab a cup of water, “Pidge is probably getting ready now, and didn’t Coran tell Keith he wanted to see him in the med bay for scans?”

Raising a finger, Hunk clicked his tongue. “Right, right, he did!”

The two laughed slightly as they made their way into the dining room. Allura and Shiro were sitting on the heads of the table with empty plates, attention on Lance and Hunk as they walked in. Taking his seat beside Allura’s head of the table, Hunk sitting across from him, Lance gestured toward them. “Morning guys.”

“Actually, it is the afternoon now, varga thirteen!” Allura corrected nicely. “It’s nice to see you join us. Did you sleep well?”

Biting his inner cheek, he grabbed his fork and shrugged. “Somewhat.”

Thankfully, no more questions were asked as he and Hunk ate their breakfast. Pidge joined halfway through, grabbing a coffee cup and sitting down beside Hunk. Her eyes were filled with tiredness, hair jumbled into a messy bun on the top of her head.

“Woah, Pidge, did you get any sleep?” Shiro was quick to ask, leaning over the table. She shook nodded somewhat, waving him off.

“I woke up after you guys left. Coran explained the situation to me while Keith just looked horrified. I asked Coran to show me the scans and I managed to translate them to English quickly. I mean, yeah, that’s Keith, it just defies human logic that whatever ray hit him managed to change his entire make-up! But, again, this is _space_ we’re talking about. We fight purple alien cats for a living. I guess anything’s possible.” Leaning back in her chair, she folded her arms over her chest.

“That’s what I was thinking. I didn’t see how the imbalance in hormones would be able to change him like that, especially height wise- and his hair!”

“There could have been more to that ray than we know,” Allura interjected. “If we can get our hands on that weapon, we may find out there is more to it than just a disruptor ray. It could be exerting powerful chemicals, chemicals that humans react differently to. There are so many different factors that could have played part in the switch.”

“Allura’s right there,” Hunk agreed, turning his attention to Pidge who was now closing her eyes.

Moments later, Coran and Keith walked into the dining room. Lance noticed the bandages on the inner parts of Keith’s thinner arms, a juice box curled in his fist.

“Good evening, lads!” Coran greeted animatedly, letting go of Keith’s shoulder. Instantly, Keith leaned off to the side, eyes boring a hole into Coran’s back as he skipped in front of him.

“Good evening, Coran. How did the tests go?” Allura mused as Coran took his seat beside Shiro. Walking slower than usual, Keith made his way around the table, finding his normal spot at the dining table beside Lance.

“S’well, Princess! Just as I expected from last night, Keith will return to his normal self with time. Since we don’t have the ray here, I can’t exactly say what caused the sudden change, all I can say is he’s completely stable and will be back to normal in just a few movements!”

Turning to Keith, Lance met his eyes. Keith was sucking down the juice in his hand, looking over at Lance lazily like he was tired. He gave him a sympathetic smile, reaching out slightly to pat his arm, which was left unnoticed by the rest of the team.

“That’s great!” Allura clapped her hands.

Pidge rose her head slightly and cracked an eye at Keith. “At least he’s a hot girl.”

All the juice in Keith’s mouth went flying out as he ripped the pouch away from his mouth, sputtering and spitting the juice out in surprise. It sprayed over the table and on Pidge, who looked mortified. “Hey! I was just telling the truth!”

“Paladins!” Allura called out with exasperation. “We’ll be having none of that, please. Keith, can you please clean that up so we can start our morning meeting.”

He groaned, rolling his head. The braids flopped at his shoulders as he did. Hunk obviously noticed it, raising an eyebrow. “Keith, you know how to braid hair?”

Scooting out of the seat, Keith walked around the table. “No, why?” He responded while walking into the dining room, grabbing one of the rags from the counter.

“Well, your hair is up in braids. Who did it?”

Nonchalantly, he walked back into the room, pulling at his shorts so they’d stay better on his hips. “Oh, Lance did it last night.”

Before Lance knew what was happening, he had five sets of questioning eyes on him, the other set busy focused on the spilled drink on the table. “What?” He rose an eyebrow at the team. “Do you see how long his hair is now? I felt bad and offered to do it for him!” He huffed, as if trying to cover his own hind, which is exactly what he was doing.

A small “ _oh_ ” escaped them.

Once Keith had cleaned the table free of juice, he returned to his seat with a new pouch of juice, his focus returning to Allura. “Sorry, go on.”

Nodding his way, Allura folded her hands over the table surface. “As Coran mentioned, we will have about two to three weeks until this situation is corrected. Keith will be in a lot of pain, for the most part, so we must be very careful about our whereabouts. We can not risk another attack until everyone is in tip-top shape, and we can’t risk another one of our members being hit with a ray like that again. Earlier this morning, Shiro and I contacted the Blade of Marmora about the situation. They will be sending two of their top members out to investigate and they will report to us what they find. We’re going to try and see if they can get their hands on the ray that hit the Black Lion. Until then, I ask that we keep on the down-low. Training sessions will be shortened and we will not be doing lion bonding exercises.”

She paused, clearing her throat before motioning toward Coran. “Coran said we should head to one of the nearby space malls to collect supplies, such as food and clothing. We’ll be docking at one in a few Vargas. Please prepare your lists, we will only be staying for one varga. While you do that, I will be searching for a planet for us to land on for a while. One with less hostility, of course."

The team nodded in response which pulled a large smile from Allura. Standing up from her seat, she did a once over at the team before pulling away from the table. "Come along, let's get a move on it!"

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh! I can't wait to continue along with this. I have some big plans!  
> What did you guys think of it so far? I'll be answering to every comment, so please, drop your thoughts in the comments!
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